Thanks to Leon Alexander Geernaert for designing this beautiful poster for the forthcoming Esmerine show.

You can check out more of his work

via http://iamchair.com

Can you keep a secret?

Will you give us one night of your life?

Capsule and Fierce Festival have co-commissioned a mysterious and memorable experience that will take place in Birmingham on Thursday 5 April as part of the next Fierce Festival (which runs from 29 March – 8 April 2012). The artists have insisted that their identity is kept strictly anonymous until after the event has taken place.  Capsule and Fierce Festival are combining their expertise in producing cutting edge music, contemporary art and live experiences to create this very unique event.

When you book you will be asked to leave an email address and phone number. We will arrange to meet you at a location near Birmingham City Centre, where your experience will begin.

Intrepid audience members can book alone for £15 or a discount is available for groups of 4, who can buy a ticket for £55. There are no concession tickets available.  Early booking is advised as capacity is limited. Tickets are available here http://www.theticketsellers.co.uk

Please note you will be blindfolded as part of this experience.

Londoners should get down to The Grosvenor on Sunday 4th March to catch Conny Prantera’s beautiful installation KORE’ KOSMOU. Previously shown at Supersonic Festival 2011 we’re thrilled this installation of drawings, video projections and live music performance gets another outing.

For this show Conny Prantera has assembled some amazing musicians, and she presents you with a rare occasion to see them playing live in a one-off improvised music set.

BRIDGET HAYDEN……………………………………http://soundcloud.com/florasninos

MARK WAGNER ………………………………..http://markwagnermusic.blogspot.com

CHRISTOS FANARAS………………………………………..http://www.thejackshirt.com

ESTASY ……………………………………………http://www.myspace.com/extacysound

ALEXANDER TUCKER …………………………………http://www.alexandertucker.org

The show is a free event, but small contribuitions to cover costs will be welcome!

For more information about Conny Prantera’s work see:

CONNY PRANTERA ………………………………...http://connyprantera.blogspot.com

Our old friends House of God are celebrating their 19th birthday on Saturday 25th February at Subway City. Featuring Regis, Surgeon, PCM, Harvey Lane, Sir Real and loads more – not to be missed if you like your raving as heavy as it gets. Its a 10pm-6am all nighter and tickets are available here http://www.theticketsellers.co.uk

Exciting news – Dylan Carlson is creating his first major solo project outside of Earth. He has set up a Kickstarter project to get support for the project which will consist of a limited edition lp/dvd/book and cd/dvd/book(500 of each format) and a special pressing of 150 copies(lp only) with personalized ex libris by Simon Fowler (who will also do the cover and end papers). This is not being released through a label, but is a labour of love for Carlson. Read more about him and the project here http://drcarlsonalbion.wordpress.com/

There’s only THREE days left to pledge support for this project – do it HERE

Listen to the new Earth record via Pitchfork

Buy Simon Fowler’s limited edition Supersonic Festival screenprint

This lovely poster was designed by Daniel Margetts – www.behance.net/margetts

We’re always up for working wth new illustrators so feel free to get in touch via [email protected] if you want to design a poster for us in the future

Monday 5th March

Teeth of the Sea + Health & Efficiency + Victories at Sea

Hare & Hounds

https://www.theticketsellers.co.uk

This year, Flatpack Festival will be collaborating with storytelling wizards YARN on a new project called Five Stories High. They’re looking for talented film-makers, illustrators, and artists to help retell the entire plot of Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane in new and interesting ways.

Shortly before the start of the festival each of the selected teams will be assigned a section of the film (roughly 6.5%), and then you will have about a week to prepare for the grand finale.

On 18 March – the last day of the festival – the finished film will be shown in its entirety at the Custard Factory in a dazzling, multi-media performance known as Five Stories High.

So if you’re a performer, illustrator, or filmmaker who is interested in taking part then just fill in the short form on YARN’s website. Entry closes 1 March

For further information contact [email protected]

Flatpack Festival takes place 14-18 March 2012 across Birmingham – some highlights have been announced here: www.flatpackfestival.org.uk

Don’t forgot Capsule are teaming up with Flatpack on Saturday 17th March to present Panopticon – a night of psych featuring White Hills and Pontiak. Tickets available here: http://www.theticketsellers.co.uk/

Two nights at Cafe OTO in Dalston last weekend showcased some of the talent on the ever fascinating PAN record label. Coming out of Berlin, the label (run by Bill Kouligas aka Family Battle Snake) features a wealth of noise, improv and outer limits sounds. The label is also well known for its great artwork and was featured recently in Creative Review (the same issue as Supersonic Festival was praised for its design!).

The festival began with Eli Keszler, who i didn’t know much about apart from his recent Cold Pin installation. Turns out he is predominately a percussionist and played around the drumkit with a Corsano rate of inventiveness and precision, but far removed from any free jazz percussive traditions.

The two highlights of the whole weekend for me followed. The

reliably awesome John Wiese (who played at our show at mac with Matmos last year) played by the sound desk, inviting the audience to sit on stage and hear his set as a wash of noise behind the speakers. Next followed R/S – the duo of Peter Rehberg and Marcus Schmikler. A torrent of noise that probably a lot more fun then intended – with an added bonus of Stephen O’Malley headbanging in the crowd and big smiles all round.

I missed most of day two’s opener, Sicilian Valerio Tricoli who performed an electronic soundscape set, with what looked like a ridiculously complex set up. The finale came from CC Hennix and Werner Durand. This closing piece was totally removed from the all noise and electronic push of the weekend, this was a minimlaist set of organic sounds. Durand is an instrument maker, check out his construction for this show:

Hennix’s vocal range was astonishing, but there were no acrobatics here, utterly restrained, her voice calmly dropped deeper and deeper throughout the set so that she created a continuous rumble behind Durand’s wind instruments.

A varied and impressive showcase, check out more about PAN’s releases here and the always impressive programme at Cafe OTO here